Well, i yield to no one and my faith and confidence of the great men and women of the fbi, but i will tell you the chinese Counter Intelligence threat is certainly the greatest Counter Intelligence threat we face as a country, and the sheer number of what we would refer to as nontraditional collectors working on behalf of the Chinese Communist party is something that is a massive resource challenge for the fbi. That was probably an unfair question. In the few seconds i have left, im begging the indulgence of our heesteemed chairman who is doing a much better job than durbin, by the way oh, hes back. Can you tell us how many people at the fbi have worked on the horowitz report . For prosecution or for discipline . For prosecution first. Just give me numbers because i dont want to abuse my time. The prosecution issue related to anything to do with the horowitz report is in the hands of inspector i get it. How many have you fired . Most of the people involved in the horowitz report are former employees. Of the ones that are current, every single one of them, even if mentioned only in passing, have been referred to our office of professional disciplinary. That piece of it, because were cooperating fully with mr. Durhams investigation, at this point we have slowed that process down to allow his criminal investigation to proceed. At the moment, that process is still underway in order to make sure were being appropriately sensitive to the criminal investigation. So youve had to hold up as a result of the criminal investigation . Im sorry i wont over, mr. Chairman. Im sure glad youre here. He was just screwing everything up. Senator padilla, and im sure youll do better than the previous questioner. Thank you, and i will do my best. Director wray, other members in the committee have raised their concerns in the increase in hate crimes in recent years against latinos, africanamericans, to lbgtqa community and others. Over the last year, weve seen a significant increase in violence specifically against Asian Americans, including in my home state of california. Earlier in this hearing, members raised recent lethal attacks in San Francisco and new york as some examples. Just last week in sacramento, california, a man returned to the premises of an asian familyrun butcher shop with a mutilated cat carcass for no apparent reason other than to stoke fear. The incident is currently under investigation as a hate crime. Its clear to me that this uptick in violence against Asian Americans is a direct result of racist rhetoric used by political leaders with intentional regard to the coronavirus pandemic. Such as when former President Donald Trump has used offensive references to the coronavirus. Indeed, on march 2020, an fbi investigation has been conducted by the Fbi Houston Office and distributed to Law Enforcement across the country. And ill quote it predicted a future surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans due to the spread of the coronavirus. The fbi makes this assessment based on the assumption that a portion of the u. S. Public will associate covid19 with china and Asian American populations. So i know senator hirona has already raised the topic, but i wanted to ask a couple specific followup questions. To what extent do you believe the increased violence against Asian Americans has been influenced by reckless rhetoric concerning the pandemic . Two, what steps is the fbi taking to address the increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans . And three, part of that, i hope, is an update on how the fbi is pro a proactively working to overcome trust issues in Asian American communities and communities of color . Senator, let me try to take all three questions in turn. I want to be careful as fbi director not to start to get in the business of weighing in and characterizing rhetoric, because as you know, and we focus on the violence, not on the idealogy or the motivation. I would largely, on that issue, just reassure them who have been introduced with appropriate channels. Secondly, in terms of trying to be proactive, a number of things were doing. So in addition to our investigations, which we work closely with state and local, and in some cases tribal and other federal Law Enforcement agencies, in some cases well be able to bring federal cases working with our civil rights division, counterparts and prosecutors. In other cases even if it was a state or local charge sometimes may be the best charge available based on the facts, we are trying to provide forensic support, other kinds of expertise and experience to help support the state and local prosecution. Were also trying to do a lot more public outreach, which is both with the community itself but also with state and local Law Enforcement. In some cases, field offices are bringing them together so its a Group Discussion which has a lot of value. Weve also provided training. Were doing a lot of training, hundreds of seminars, workshops for both Law Enforcement and community groups, religious organizations, so forth, and that includes hate crimes training not just for the hundreds of agents at the fbi but for thousands and thousands of Police Officers. When it comes specifically to the last part of your question, the trust issues, you know, part of that is demonstrating through our work that were going to do the right thing in the right way, and that were going to respond just as aggressively and professionally to crimes against them as victims as they see with other kinds of crimes. We have done just since march of 2020, i think weve done 60 over 60 liaison events or t trainings specifically geared toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, and he with also put out reports like the one you referenced that call out the issue. I think its just yet another example of the value of increased diversity, not just throughout the ranks of the agency but especially among leadership. That makes a great transition to my next question. Some of the most striking revelations in the aftermath of the january 6 insurrection here in the capitol were reports that some members of the Capitol Police were sympathetic to the insurrectionists. They posed for photos, provided directions and may even have expressed support for those attacking the very building theyre sworn to protect. I understand that six Capitol Police officers have been suspended and at least 29 others are under investigation for their alleged role in the attack. Weve also learned that among those participating in the insurrection where numerous offduty Law Enforcement officers from around the country rooting out White Supremacists and right wing extremists is a challenge that local Law Enforcement agencies and even the United States military is facing across the country. Director wray, how is the fbi assisting Law Enforcement agencies across the country to root out White Supremacy or other forms of extremism, and do you believe there is a concerted effort by right wing extreme ilsi extremists to infiltrate Law Enforcement agencies . I guess a few things i would say on this topic. Certainly it is true that in some instances, as we continue to investigate the january 6 attack, there have been some instances of current or particular former Law Enforcement and we want to pursue those cases just as aggressively as we would anyone else. We also, which may go to the heart of your question, when appropriate referring individuals to their the department that employs them for possible administrative or disciplinary action under their rules as appropriate. We work very closely with both our Law Enforcement partners and our military partners in their efforts to address any kind of violent extremism that may be in their midst. We view that as a kind of insider threat, if you will, and they do, too. I want to be clear that in my experience, and im dealing with our Law Enforcement partners and military partners every single day, a vast, vast, vast, vast majority of men and women in uniform both in Law Enforcement and the military are brave, selfless, professional, highintegrity individuals. But when there are bad apples in the midst, we work with our partners to try to get ahead of it. I agree with that final statement, but the danger that those few bad apples present are to be taken very seriously, i understand. I hope to work with you possibly to develop further best practices and protocols to be shared with agencies around the country. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Senator tillis. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Director wray, thank you for being here for your years of service and the great work that so many people in the fbi do every single day. Before i ask you a question, though, i think its very important. I was the last senator to leave the senate chamber, and i agree that the Capitol Police did a great job in shepherding every Single Member and every single staff to safety, so i think we should go through a review as officers. I think they were tracking our pattern every single day. Some of them were putting themselves between us and violence, and we need to make sure we treat them fairly. But back on the rioters on january 6. Can you give me a rough idea just of the crimes that many of them are being charged with or being pursued through investigations . Well, were using a variety of statutory weapons. There are certainly assault charges, there are a number of charges by that i mean assault against federal Law Enforcement, including the Capitol Police, the brave men and women of the Capitol Police that i think you rightly credited there. There is also various charges related to destruction of federal property, things along those lines. We are now starting to begin to see, as we have sort of taken care of the most immediate, easiest to prove i hate to use the word like lowhanging fruit charges, but now were starting to get more of the more advanced charges, if you will. Weve had some conspiracy charges recently. Some of the people that are more involved with different forms of planning or coordination or preparation, some of those charges are starting to happen, and i would expect to see that continue. And with senator grahams comments earlier, i think your threats are going up and we have to match that with additional resources, so i look forward to the committee continuing that. Would you see any difference between the charges, the investigations that youre pursuing in the events on january 6 and charges that should be pursued against federal buildings and federal Law Enforcement officers being harmed in seattle or portland . Are there active investigations for either of those two events, and would they be treated any differently . As i think i said in response to an earlier question, we are equal opportunity. So by that i mean we dont care what idealogy motivates you, if youre involved in violence, were coming for you. Thats true over the summer and some of the terrorism that was there. Are there active investigations with those events . Yes. I think you said the volume is increasing. Ive introduced in the last congress, and i intend to reintroduce the bill called protect and serve which increases penalties for rioters for assaults on federal officers and more significant consequences. Do you think that those would be helpful tools for Law Enforcement and for prosecution . While im not familiar with the specific bill, i want to enthusiastically support the idea of looking at everything we can do to protect the men and women of Law Enforcement. The threats, the violence against Law Enforcement in this country is one of the most tragic and sometimes least talked about challenges we face. This year alone an officer is shot and killed in the line of duty at a rate of more than one a week. And when you think about what it takes for someone to be willing to sacrifice his or her life for a total stranger and how unusual that is just to begin with, and then you add on top of that somebody who is willing to do that, get up and do that every single day, day after day after day, and they never know when that day might be the day that they dont come home to their families, and so then you put that in the context of the way in which some violent opportunists or terrorists hijacked the protests, whether it was the ones in the summer or the one on the 6th, and then you have some of these same selfless individuals that in many cases were killed, but for anyone who was killed, there is someone who survived, thank goodness, but his life and his familys life is forever altered. I dont think we should ever take for granted those people because they protect all of us. I agree. Im curious with all the discussion of defund the police and systemic racism and Law Enforcement agencies, some of the dialogue thats out there. Are you seen a measurable decrease in all the people trying to come into the fbi . State troopers tell me their applications are down 70 . We see people expanding their requi requirement. Certainly when it comes to state and local Law Enforcement, because i talk to many of the chiefs and officers you do, the recurring challenge comes up all the time. Thats something we need to be concerned about, and all these trends weve talked about, i think we run the risk of that, just making that trend worse. At the fbi, happily, because we can all use some good news from time to time, last year and the year before, we tripled the number of people americans across the country applying to be special agents. When i took the job, it was around 11,000 or so a year of people applying to be special agents. In 2013, it was about 36,000. And then last year, even with the pandemic, it was even higher than that, and thats the highest number of people applying to work at the fbi as special agents to put their lives on the line in about a decade. So wed like to think our work is earning people who want to come work for us, and were grateful for that, and hopefully we can do our part to try to encourage more people because we can only take so many of them to pursue Law Enforcement jobs in other agencies. That is good news. I just wish you all the best of luck in prosecuting every Single Person that you can that breached the capitol and every Single Person on the ground who assaulted or threatened a police officer, if there is anything we can do to help. I will follow up on the department to get your perspective as to whether or not you think the protect and serve act would be helpful. I think it will be, but id like your professional judgment. Thank you, senator. Senator ossoff . Thank you, mr. Chairman, and director wray. Greetings from your home state of georgia. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Theres been a significant increase in shootings and Violent Crime nationwide over the last 18 months. There were at least ten people shot in atlanta, georgia on sunday. What does the fbi assess is driving this crime wave . Well, certainly i am following the same trends you are with concern not just in atlanta, but in other cities around the country. Im not sure there is any single factor thats driving it, i think ilts a variety of things. We are seeing some of it may be the pandemic itself in its own way has had an impact, you know, people who are maybe not at jobs and not in school or not otherwise available and theyre more theres more potential for wrongdoing to occur. We talked about some of the challenges with local Police Departments and some of the issues there in terms of their recruiting and staffing. A lot of them are understaffed in addition to the recruiting challenge, so thats a problem. So there are a variety of drivers that we think contribute to it, but the Violent Crime problem over the last year in particular, 2020, is something that is a great concern and that we are very warily keeping our eye on. It doesnt get the same kind of headlines as some of the other threats weve talked about today, but as your question, i think, quite rightly implies, its a subject thats near and dear to the hearts of all the people we know back home. With that many shootings in atlanta on sunday alone, this increase in Violent Crime is of great concern to georgians and people across the country. Will you work with this committee and my office to try to refine that assessment of the drivers of this crime wave . I would be pleased to do that. I commend you for your interest in the Violent Crime problem back in our home state. I appreciate that, director wray. Next week will be the First Anniversary of the shooting death of Brianna Taylor, a young lady who died when Police Officers in louisville, kentucky entered her home with a battering ram executing a noknock search warrant connected to a narcotics investiga